Mad About Madeleines: Troisieme Partie

The collision of several stars resulted in my baking madeleines today.

• we needed a treat to leave on the hearth for Santa, since none of us fancied coal in our stockings this year
• Christmas Eve is always an auspicious time for baking 
• I had earlier this week stumbled upon an intriguing new recipe using chestnut flour 
• I have had chestnut flour on hand for some time and chestnuts are nothing if not seasonal
• I was full of holiday cheer thanks to Sandra and the lovely folks at Dowd & Rogers, who have promised to send a Christmas present of one of their flour blends for me to try

Readers already know that madeleines are a favorite treat any time of the year chez Fractured Amy and the production of gluten-free specimens (with and without xanthan gum) was the subject of some fraught experimentation back in October.

Readers are also aware that I have recently become a big fan of Dowd & Rogers, whose lemon cake mix is the best I have tried and which I would recommend to anybody, be they adherers to the gluten-free imperative or not. I was anxious to see whether their chestnut madeleines would appeal equally to wheatavores, since I'm fairly sure Santa does not mind a bit of gluten in his baked goods. I picked up the chestnut flour during my Whole Foods trip: tragically, it is (to my knowledge, anyway) unavailable within 45 miles of my humble abode.

I set to work, first examining the chestnut flour itself. It was a lovely dark tawny color, very fine, and a bit sampled from my finger proved sweet and complex-tasting: dark, slightly caramelized, with a slightly bitter top note. It was difficult to imagine what the final cakes would be like and I whipped up the batter with great anticipation. I used the recipe thoughtfully provided by D & R, but applied my own madeleine fabrication method (not that different from theirs, truth be told, although I don't generally rest the batter for such a length of time before baking). I am unashamedly reproducing the recipe below (with a few additional notes), to avoid all that tedious hyperlink business.

The final cakes were delicious. They had a very fine texture, nice crisp edges and a tender crumb. The flavor was elusive, until Sir - in an inspired moment - identified molasses behind the subtle nuttiness. I was so pleased with the result that I hurried several still-warm specimens over to the 'Rents for a second opinion. Unfortunately, the bitter cold winds we are currently experiencing sapped the cakes' residual heat - but the happy tasters nonetheless concurred that the madeleines were top drawer and would be enjoyed by anyone.

In future I think I will bake them in mini-muffin tins rather than madeleine molds to avoid comparison with the Proustian cake, which (though splendid) they do not really resemble. They are perfect to give as a gift to Santa and for enjoying with egg nog after walks in the snow and Christmas church services.

Happy holidays to all!

Gluten-Free Chestnut Madeleines

• 1 cup plus 4 tblsp D&R Italian chestnut flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I added some extra and used that to butter my madeleine molds)
• one-half cup plus 1 tblsp sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tblsp honey (I used orange blossom honey, which I thought would go nicely with the chestnut flavor - and it did)

Brush some of the melted butter into the madeleine molds and set aside. You can also use mini-muffin tins, if you are so inclined.

Sift the flour together with the baking powder. Beat the eggs in your standmixer until very light and frothy. Add the sugar and honey and continue beating until light and fluffy and increased in volume. It should do the ribbon thing. Fold in the flour/baking powder in several batches, then gently stir in the butter.

Cover the bowl and let the mixture rest in the fridge for two hours.

Preheat the oven to 420 deg F.

Fill the buttered tins about 3/4 of the way to the top and bake for six minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 deg F and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or so. They are done when they spring back upon gentle poking.

Let them cool briefly then turn them out onto a backing rack. I  made 23 madeleines.

Next chestnut project: in the belief that the molasses notes of the chestnut flour will be a perfect complement to chocolate, I will be returning to the recipes at Dowd & Rogers to produce a batch of their chocolate chestnut brownies. They will probably be served as dessert to The Cycling Scientist and His Lovely Wife when they come to dinner next week.